WINCHESTER, California: Jason Chinnock, CEO of Ducati North America, believes his brand is one of the best kept secrets in America and their entry into the SuperMotocross World Championship aims to correct that oversite.
In a nutshell, that is the goal of Justin Barcia and Dylan Ferrandis in 2026. It would be nice to score some top-fives, a few podiums, and if all goes right on a given weekend, maybe even win a race.
“I’ve been in my role for 10 years now as CEO,” Chinnock told NBC Sports during a special event to launch the Troy Lee Designs, Factory Ducati Team. “It’s one of the things that I remember coming back to Ducati. I left for a couple years and I did some four wheel stuff, but I came back because this [motorcycle racing] is what I love to do. And it’s one of those things where I almost feel like we’re sometimes as a brand, the best kept secret.”
The 2026 SuperMotocross season will mark the debut of Ducati in American dirt bike racing the same season that the British icon, Triumph Motorcycles, also moves into the big bike class. Headquartered in Bologna, Italy, Ducati will change the fans’ perception of supercross and motocross. While all of the current manufacturers have roots outside of America, there is a special appeal of these two manufacturers — an elan, that while it was not missing, did not exist to this degree.
Often considered a luxury brand, Ducati recognizes the need to appeal to everyday riders.
“Historically, we intentionally did that,” Chinnock continued. “We kind of limited ourselves, because the types of bikes that we brought to market, the technologies that we had back then, I mean 20, 30 years ago, you had to be a really highly experienced motorcyclist in order to hop onto a Ducati and to get anything out of it. The reality is, that’s all changed.”
Ducati’s experience in MotoGP, the pinnacle of motorcycle road racing, taught Chinnock that the more comfortable the rider felt on the bike, the faster he went. That is also a critical component of grassroot involvement in the most popular form of racing in the US.
Win on Saturday; sell on Monday. In fact, it didn’t even take that long.
“We’re bringing something that will hopefully light that fire for people to keep that passion of motorcycling alive or maybe even start new ones,” Chinnock reflected. “I bumped into a couple of our clients out in the parking lot that rode all the way out from Orange County on Ortega Highway, all excited about coming out here and they’re like, man, we need to get dirt bikes now. How cool is that? I got a guy riding a streetfighter V4S, and then it’s like, I need a dirt bike now.”
The Deep End
Comfort will be important because Ducati is diving straight into the deep end of the pool. Triumph debuted in the 250 division in 2024 and took two years to develop their 450 bike. Austin Forkner will mount the big bike this weekend and Jordon Smith will take over in Round 6 after a shoulder injury has healed.
Beta Motorcycles, another Italian brand, also debuted in 2024, but took a different tack and launched as a 450-only team. Triumph’s approach was the more successful of the two.
“We go in high and we figure out,” Chinnock said. “It’s much easier to go from here and then bring it down than it is to go from there and ratchet your way up. It’s worked for us over the years. But logically thinking, what’s the investment of 250s versus 450? Probably the differentiation is not that much in terms of financial investment. Maybe it’s a toe in the water versus jumping in the deep end. We just don’t [do the] toe in the water.”
That philosophy of going “all-in” also applies to Ducati’s riders. Pairing Barcia and Ferrandis is a bold move. Bother riders are known to have incredibly aggressive racing styles that have brought them into conflict in the past. In the MotoAmerica series, Josh Herrin’s refusal to back down on the pavement represents the same philosophy.
“Ducati [has been] awesome so far,” Barcia told NBC Sports. “Obviously always been a huge name in the sport, not in supercross or motocross, but everyone knows the street bikes, MotoGP. We love it. We see the passion.
“We’re doing it right and you’re getting racers that have a lot of experience. We’re not 16 anymore. We’ve had a lot of time behind the gate. ... We’re setting the bar high for ourselves, so we need to hold ourselves accountable for that because we want to do [well].”
No one knows entirely what to expect this weekend when the gate drops in Angel Stadium for the first round in Anaheim.
And the gate drop is going to be critical.
“From what I feel, the bike can be really good,” Ferrandis added. “Any type of track, I really feel like we can do great whenever we can, but the only question for us I believe is start because the start, we never made a race start with this bike. We’ve practiced starts for sure, but we have no idea it’s going to be with 20 people around, when it’s nighttime with the humidity coming down. So that’s the big question, how is the bike going to be at the start? We cannot replicate a real race start, so we just don’t know about that. But if we get a good start, I’m sure bike is already competitive to make good result right now.”
Even there, Ducati has an ace in the sleeve. Despite common opinion, road racing and dirt bike racing may not be as disparate as it seems.
“There are technologies that we’ve learned in road racing in terms of electronics,” Chinnock said. “It’s a perfect example. The electronics, the fuel management that we know how to manage other electronic gates like traction control and those sorts of things. We’re the only manufacturer that’s created a closed loop traction control system on the bike. So instead of you just revving the engine up and then all of a sudden turn it off a little bit with the throttle, we went in and we say it’s closed loop. We are able to measure the rear wheel slip, based on a sensor that comes off the crank. We’re actually able to say that wheel is slipping. And so how can we have electronics intervene in order to be able to help support the rider. That comes directly from we learned and road racing.
Success in SuperMotocross is not limited to podiums and wins. Known as one of the best starters on the grid, Barcia is capable of earning a holeshot early in the season. Should that happen, the sky is the limit, and Ducati’s innovations will have been well-served.
